Day 19: Sunday, January 13
Countdown to Kentucky Round-Up:

What's Kentucky Round-Up?

Sundays and the American work ethic

There's nothing better than a new horse.  Today a good friend took me to visit with her new mare, a blue roan walking horse.  It's almost as exciting as having a new baby.. for some anyway. Or I suppose a new car.  You look over every inch of their body, clean them up better than they've been cleaned for years, watch for personality traits and behavior oddities...and dream of taking them out "on the road" this spring.

But back this blog's topic, Kentucky Round-Up.  Because it was such a rainy Sunday, I was able to get a lot done.  Composed a long email to go out to members. (Telling them about it but asking for help), added three pages to the website, corrected others, wrote an article for newspapers, updated the project management software we are using.  Slowly but surely tasks get ticked off on the list.

Which brings me to the point of working on Sunday.  I am not very religious, but most of the time I try to keep Sunday as either a day of REST or a day of PLAY.  Most Americans work too hard.  It is our possessions that keep us working (the economic motivation) plus somehow our culture rewards "accomplishments" even when it is not attached to money. (the "values" motivation).  Most of us pretty much acquiesce to that culture. Capitalism could not survive without the accomplishment motivation.

Nevertheless,  Sunday is usually pretty sacred in terms of "no work" for me.

But there are exceptions, and Kentucky Round-Up is one of them.  It's big, it's new and it's complicated.  You have to be flexible.

I will warn you, though --- if you try to find me the week after Kentucky Round-Up, you will have to look somewhere warm and sunny.  AHHHH...

See you tomorrow.

Day 20: Saturday, January 12
Countdown to Kentucky Round-Up:

What's Kentucky Round-Up?

I've Been Fired From NASA

Who knows about countdowns better than NASA?  According to my in-depth research on NASA countdowns, it is heavily recommended that you say all the numbers.

Let's say you work for NASA, it's time to get ready to launch the shuttle going to the moon, and you start the countdown:

"25, 24, 23, 22.....uh... 20, 19...

They get real agitated if you miss a number.  For some reason.  

This countdown to Kentucky Round-Up, while not quite as scientifically significant to the future of mankind, nevertheless should have all its numbers.

My Bad!  I missed 21.  That was yesterday.  Friday, January 11, Day #21.

I have a real good darn reason for not writing the blog last night, but who wants to listen to that?  So I'll just get down to business.

So YESTERDAY we decided to move ahead on the large billboard in Northern Kentucky. One problem the Kentucky Horse Council often has is we forget about the huge interested audience/horse lovers in Northern Kentucky AND the Cincinnati area.

The billboard is one of those new digital types and sits right on 471.  Lots of traffic, lots of eyeballs.  The Kentucky Round-Up horse logo will be gazing down at those speeding cars, right next to a huge photo of John Michael Montgomery.  Drivers will look up and think 'Hmmm.... what's that all about?"

It feels like we are in the big time now!  Only time will tell.

See you tomorrow.

Day 22: Thursday, January 10
Countdown to Kentucky Round-Up:

What's Kentucky Round-Up?

Working for No Pay

The theme of the day... working for no pay. That is the classical definition of a volunteer.  Why do we do it?  (I'm certainly not a volunteer for the Horse Council, but have volunteered for all kinds of other groups...4-H, church, Habitat for Humanity...)

Why do we do it?

Because there are just certain people who are not happy unless they are so busy that they don't have time to think.  That's my theory.

There is a thrill to be running 100 miles an hour.  Adrenaline rushes can be habit-forming. Breathlessness brings extra oxygen to your brain... a natural high. Then there is the undeniable fact that if what you are working on something halfway fun, you have a REAL excuse for not doing housework or laundry, neither of which can be described as halfway fun.

Somehow when the Kentucky Round-Up project came up, a wild group of these somewhat crazy volunteers showed up (last spring) and have been working all year -- yes for no pay.  Most already have full time jobs or own small companies -- no, not bored housewives or retired folks looking for something to do.  Most have their hands already full with jobs, families, animals, other interests... but that's not enough!  They jump in with both feet to the Kentucky Round-Up Merry Go Round.

I must admit I have grown fond of them.  But I am hoping that we make some money on this event so we can get these people some mental health counseling. They exude friendliness even when things are going badly; they shrug their shoulders when there appears to be no solution and just comment, "Oh, we'll figure it out." (and they DO); they go out for dinner after a long meeting and eat cheap Chinese food just to spend another few hours together.  Now if that doesn't mean mental illness, what does?

So now we are looking for even more volunteer wacko's  (Oh did I say that?  I mean wonderful selfless individuals) to help set up, work during the day and tear down the various exhibits, concert paraphernalia, corral panels and such.

How many hard workers are there in Kentucky?  There seems to be no end to them. And thank the Lord for that! None of us would survive without them.

Until tomorrow...

Day 23: Wednesday, January 9
Countdown to Kentucky Round-Up:

What's Kentucky Round-Up?

More Sponsors and Vendors Jump On Board

It's all good news today. Three new sponsors today totaling $2,250.
We are still "in the hole" on this event, but some of those expenditures we will not have to make again, at least not for a while.  Such as...
--- Re-usable banners and signs.
--- Design Services (We'll freshen up designs for 2014, but won't start from scratch)
--- Generous orders of Kentucky Round-Up shirts for sale (and for volunteers)
--- Website development and web address purchase

OK, so they aren't the lion's share of the expenses, I admit.
But we are being super generous with free tickets, and priced the booth rentals way below market value... to get this thing started.
I think we will have a huge turnout, and it's gonna be one hellava day!

We'll get in contact with new people who want to get into horses and don't know where to start, and we'll lead them along the path all year long.

We'll get horsemen in who will realize that, YES, we DO need a full blown horse fair in Kentucky.

We'll have sponsors visit and say "Hmm, this is a good deal!"

We'll have other businesses who DIDN'T sponsor say "Hmm, I gotta get in on this deal next year."

We'll have committee volunteers who will say "OK it just about drove me nuts, but it was worth it."

And for me... My adrenaline will keep me going all day, into the night, and then I'll crash but I'll still say "What a good feeling to pull this huge event off in such a short time.  And what good friends I made in the process."

See you all tomorrow.  Signing off while in a really good mood!

Day 24: Tuesday, January 8
Countdown to Kentucky Round-Up:

What's Kentucky Round-Up?

NO ANALYSIS, JUST FACTS.

Did you ever have one of those days which seem to be over before it started? WHOOOOOSHHHH.... Day Gone.

This was one of those days. I'd better not have many more of these days or I'll be 90 before I look over my shoulder.   Here's how it went.

8:00 Answering emails sitting at kitchen counter.  

[OK I admit -- still in my pajamas.   It's the best way to read emails.  Unless you own a sailboat with wireless.]

9:00 On the road to the Kentucky Horse Park, (I-75),  and on the phone discussing the KY Equine Survey with Dr. Stowe, the UK faculty member who is heading up the analysis.

[Don't tell anyone I use my cell phone while driving.]

9:30 Meet Chad (our KHC V.P.) at Alltech Arena to evaluate the classroom locations. 

[No perfect place for a classroom in that Arena -- too much light, noise.. but we'll make it work]

10:00 Meet with Chad and a Concert Production Rep at Alltech Arena to discuss stage, lighting, sound setup for the KY Round-Up Concert.

[His first question:  What's the height of the drive-in door to come into the arena?  Answer: 13 ft. 2 in.  Response:  High enough.  12'6" would have been close.  Second question:  What's under the footing in the arena, will the truck sink in?  Answer:  Under the footing is a solid surface; they've had tractor pulls in there...]

11:00 Drop in at KHC office, pick up educational posters for concourse at Alltech

11:30 Working lunch with the volunteer who's  coordinating concourse activities at KY Round-Up.  Decisions on signage, Children's Museum, volunteer shirts, floor plan layout, more...

[It's amazing how much you can get done when there are just two people, and food.]

1:30 Back to Office, work with Kelsea on setting up Used Tack Sale at the Round-Up.

[NOTE: If you or your club wants to have a used tack table, it's $25 for the space, you set up as you wish and handle your own money.  Also a wall to post things for sale, $1 per flyer.  Contact Kelsea at krookard@kentuckyhorse.org.]

2:30 Hit the road to meet with UK and Alltech about coordinating the KENA group and the Alltech News and Brews. [The one non-Round-Up task I did today]

3:30 Dropped in at the Lexington Public Library to put up a poster, and sign out kids horse books for the Reading Corner at the Round-Up

[I really wanted Misty of Chincoteague in a picture book format, but they didn't have it.  I did get Black Beauty and a number of other cute stories.]

4:15  Ran into two Kroger stores to put up posters

[Fastest trip to a grocery store I ever had.]

5:00  Home and out to feed horses and chickens.  

See you tomorrow.

Day 25
Countdown to Kentucky Round-Up:

What's Kentucky Round-Up?

TODAY I SAW A HORSE.  OR TWO.

You'd think as a staff member of the Kentucky Horse Council that I'd be in the presence of horses pretty frequently.  But honestly, except for my own horses at home, my job is closer to that of a typical corporate job-- meetings, conference, emails and reading articles and reports.

But THANKS TO KENTUCKY ROUND-UP, this afternoon I was at a local riding stable.  Considering it is the middle of January, the day was gorgeous and sunny (but cold).  I met with Janet Patton, one of the Lexington Herald-Leader's journalists, who is interested in writing something about Kentucky Round-Up.  Janet has done a number of articles about the horse industry, and is intrigued by KY Round-Up.

We met at The Farm, located off Winchester Road, and had a photo shoot of some girls who ride there, age 6 to 13.  They rode everything from a 16.2H Thoroughbred (in his second career) to a 13.2H, 20-year old pony who, according to the trainer, "keeps going and going".  (Aren't all ponies like that?) Calm and quiet, been there-done that attitude.. and amazingly he is a Hackney-Mustang cross.  Not exactly the stereotypical calm and quiet breeds.

They groomed, they tacked, they mounted, they rode.  Smiles all around.  The photographer was snapping as fast as her digital camera would go, and at one point I saw her lying on her stomach on the ground getting a shot under the horses' belly. (Yes, she was safe, she was far enough away from the trotting horse...)

Emily, who owns the farm, donated a lesson package for a door prize at Kentucky Round-Up, and I left a poster for the barn.  (Note to readers, we are looking for more donated lesson packages for kids who come who want to learn to ride, just email me if you know of someone willing to give)

It was a good day which got me out of the office, away from the computer, and back to the animals that the Horse Council focuses on every day.

See you tomorrow.

Day 26
Countdown to Kentucky Round-Up:

What's Kentucky Round-Up?

LEARNING TWO THINGS I SHOULD HAVE ALREADY KNOWN.

Yesterday I ran around Nicholasville to get some Kentucky Round-Up posters put up around town.  I stopped into The Boot Store to see if they would want to be a vendor.  Cowboy boots and John Michael Montgomery... seems like a natural. (Status: Boot Store ON HOLD.  Owner not in store at the time.)

I learned two things on that two hour trip (one lesson per hour, not bad):

1. 4-H kids actually do grow up, and get jobs and college degrees, and houses!

2. Large multi-national corporations do not support the community by putting up any posters (even nice ones like the KY Round-Up poster) because it might mess up their pristine, designer-designed entryways.

Back to #1:  I was a 4-H Horse Club leader for six years. Loved working with the kids and their new horses -- and their hopeful parents, some of whom didn't have a clue about what to do with a horse.  Luckily, we all learned and no one got injured.

Stopping at the Boot Store, there was one of my 4-Her's, working full time, planning to enter Nursing school at UK, bought her own home last year, and was gorgeous and confident. I remember my worries when her parents bought her a 2-year-old to train when she was about 11, and they got into barrel racing. She survived, and even thrived -- and so did the horse.

Walking into Tractor Supply, there was a second one of my 4-Her's, who knew me immediately although I didn't recognize her.  I think the last time I saw her she was 13.  I remember she rode an Appaloosa.

At Southern States, I didn't know anyone, but the women at the front desk were all excited about Kentucky Round-Up and asked for two posters so they could put them on their front doors on both sides.  Now that's what I like to hear.

So that was all good.

Now for #2, the multi-national companies who have a NO FLYERS policy.  Remember when we went to the corner store, and on the front window or on the front of the check-out counter were flyers about yard sales, church pot lucks, local horse shows, PTA bake sales.. it was a veritable cornucopia of neighborhood information.

Fast forward to 2013.  Corner stores go out of business, replace by the big box stores which have 300, or 400, or 500 stores around the U.S.  RULE #1: Each one has to look the same.  Store fronts and windows and signage are all designed at the corporate HQ.  And most policies like allowing local groups to post information about their events -- VERBOTEN!  Might look messy.  Might hide a sale sign they have up.  People might block the door reading them.  Bah Humbug.

So, I was turned down at Lowe's and Rite Aid.

I expect to be turned down as well at Walmart and KMart.  But I'll try.

By the way, if you can get some posters up in your area (tack stores, feed stores, barns...) let me know and we'll send you some.  (director@kentuckyhorse.org)

See you tomorrow.